Hela Picture

The first in what I plan to be a lengthy series on Norse and Celtic mythology, and also the first project done on my larger-format 11x14 paper. Liking the larger format so far, as it agrees with my natural scaling on full-form characters. Apologies in advance for the bluing of the paper; I don't have a scanner large enough for the format at the moment, so digital camera stills are what I've got to work with.

I wanted to do something a little non-traditional in my depiction of Hela, so rather than the more typical split-down-the-middle divide between the living and the dead, I went more stylized and asymmetric, and a little bit more overtly monstrous for the mix. Had a lot of fun mixing the skeletal and musculature bits together while keeping the skin-on sections soft and feminine.

Standard #2 mechanical pencils, brushed with old abused paint brushes, then inked with PITT artist pens in black and sepia; very happy with how the media worked together on this piece. About 6 hours of work from start to finish.